In another shining moment in airport security history, a TSA agent at Kauai's Lihue Airport last week refused to let a woman bring her breast pump through security because the milk bottles were empty. Amy Strand, of Maui, was traveling with her 9-month old daughter and was carrying the electric pump. She was told she couldn't bring the machine through with the milk bottles empty, because that somehow meant the pump wasn't considered medically necessary. The agent said she would have to pump to fill up the bottles in order to be allowed on the plane with it.

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Obviously that is insane, but what's more insane is that when she asked for a private place to pump, she was told there wasn't one and was instead directed to the women's bathroom. Because her pump requires an outlet, and the only outlet in the room was next to the sink, she had to pump out in the open. As Strand described it, "I had to stand in front of the mirrors and the sinks and pump my breast, in front of every tourist that walked into that bathroom." Understandably, the experience left her "embarrassed and humiliated." After she was finished pumping, she was allowed to board the plane home.

The TSA has admitted that the agent made a mistake, and they've apologized for "any inconvenience or embarrassment this incident may have caused her." Meanwhile, in related news, TSA agents at New York's JFK airport let a woman get through security with a dagger in her bag this weekend. So, you know, good to see policies and procedures are being followed so strictly all across the nation.